Chapter Summaries

Dane learned from Morpheus that dreams could help separate Darkseid from the Anti-Life Equation and the Omega Effect, then returned to Shayera and heard the truth about her Thanagarian mission. While he reassured her that he would handle Darkseid, Batman and Cyborg began assembling a time-travel machine in Atlantis.

• Morpheus explained that the Anti-Life Equation could erase consciousness when combined with the Omega Effect, and Dane realized Dream Power might weaken Darkseid’s connection to those forces.
• Dane told Morpheus he had left a door in Hell that would let him reach Nada, then returned to the real world and found Shayera troubled beside him.
• Shayera confessed that she was a Thanagarian spy and revealed her people planned to build hyperspace passage nodes on key planets, including Earth, to attack their rival Ranx.
• Dane questioned Shayera about the cause of the Thanagar-Ranx war, but she did not know; he reassured her and said they would deal with Darkseid first.
• In the nightmare world’s Royal City of Atlantis, Batman and Cyborg reverse-engineered Atlantean water-ion technology and began assembling a spacetime travel machine using Barry Allen’s suit and genetic information.

Batman and Cyborg’s attempt to open a passage between worlds failed because the merging timelines made their calculations useless, so Batman secretly disabled Atlantis’s protective barrier to increase the Energy-Concentrating Ball’s power. The sphere began distorting space, but Superman found Atlantis and attacked Batman, who struck him with a beam from his green ring.

• After the eleventh experiment failed, Batman realized that timeline convergence made it impossible to calculate the barrier between the worlds.
• Batman proposed removing Atlantis’s protective barrier to let the Energy-Concentrating Ball absorb more Speed Force, but Cyborg objected and Batman paralyzed him with an electronic virus.
• Batman released the sphere’s stored Speed Force to shatter Poseidon’s barrier, drawing Mera’s attention; he trapped her in a green net and took her trident.
• The Energy-Concentrating Ball absorbed Speed Force faster and began distorting space, but Superman detected Atlantis and rushed there.
• Superman struck Batman, who blocked the blow and then hit Superman in the face with a beam from his green ring.

Dane and allies joined the underwater battle against Doomsday Superman, while Big Barda stole the Mother Box from Apokolips. Doomsday Superman recovered the device and summoned a Parademon army, Ultraman, and Steppenwolf as more heroes arrived.

• Batman, Cyborg, and Mera fought Superman until Dane emerged through a space-time wormhole with the trident he had taken from Mera.
• Big Barda broke into Desaad’s lab, seized the Mother Box, and escaped Apokolips through a Boom Tube to Earth.
• Dane created an air-filled clearing underwater, where Barry and heroes from another world arrived; Clark confronted Doomsday Superman and outmatched him with fighting techniques.
• Doomsday Superman took the Mother Box from Big Barda and opened a Boom Tube that released Parademons, Ultraman, and Steppenwolf.
• Clark recognized Ultraman as another version of himself, while Mera recovered the unfamiliar trident and the rest of Dane’s heroes arrived.

The Justice League was pulled into a ruined Atlantis, where Queen Mera confronted Batman and Cyborg over their role in bringing them there. As the heroes battled a massive Parademon invasion, they suspected Superman had obtained the Mother Box and was not acting alone.

• Queen Mera recognized Arthur and blamed Batman and Cyborg for bringing the Justice League to her world, while Dane explained that the Cosmic Treadmill experiment had caused the crossing between timelines.
• Dane sensed the approaching Parademons, and the horde broke through the water barrier to attack the heroes.
• Hal received his memories from Doomsday Batman's power ring and concluded that Superman was being controlled by another force.
• The Justice League fought the Parademons, with Dane, the two Barrys, Wonder Woman, Arthur, Blue Beetle, and the others using their powers to hold back the horde.
• Doomsday Batman and Queen Mera suspected Superman had acquired the Mother Box, suggesting that the heroes faced an enemy beyond Superman alone.

Superman struggled against Doomsday Superman and Ultraman while Big Barda fought to seize the Mother Box and joined forces with Wonder Woman and Queen Super against Steppenwolf. The three women drove a sword into Steppenwolf’s heart, but he was still alive when the chapter ended.

• Doomsday Superman and Ultraman teamed up against Superman, who endured their attacks but fell into a disadvantage.
• Big Barda used her spear to knock Steppenwolf and the Mother Box away, but Steppenwolf recovered the box and struck her with his axe.
• Big Barda fled through the Parademon swarm and encountered Queen Super, who attacked and badly damaged her armor.
• Steppenwolf ordered the Parademons to capture Big Barda, but Wonder Woman pulled her to safety and asked whom she fought for; Big Barda answered that she fought for herself.
• Wonder Woman, Queen Super, and Big Barda overwhelmed Steppenwolf, and Wonder Woman drove the Sword of Vulcan into his heart while the other two attacked him.
• Big Barda celebrated Steppenwolf’s apparent defeat, but he remained alive in a final burst of strength.

Dane removed the Parademons from Earth by sending them into The Hidden Sea of the Earth's Core, where Karathen began devouring them. As Superman fought Ultraman and Doomsday Superman underground, Constantine cursed a doll made with Clark's hair to blind him, helping him train against magical attacks.

• Diana killed Steppenwolf and gave Dane the Mother Box, while Big Barda warned that Darkseid would not let her go.
• Dane used Poseidon's power and the Mother Box to open a Boom Tube and transport every Parademon into The Hidden Sea of the Earth's Core.
• The Parademons awakened Karathen, which slaughtered and ate them as they fled through the hidden realm.
• Hal projected the underground battle between Superman, Ultraman, and Doomsday Superman, and Constantine used a Voodoo doll to curse Clark with temporary blindness.
• Dane explained that Constantine's curse was part of Clark's training to adapt to losing his senses.

Clark defeated Doomsday Superman and Ultraman after Constantine's curse blinded all three, and Batman restrained them with Kryptonite-radiation handcuffs. Dane's group then returned to the devastated surface, where they met Poison Ivy and learned Gotham's villains formed much of the Rebel Army.

• Clark used his other senses to outmaneuver Doomsday Superman and Ultraman, and Constantine lifted the curse after Clark knocked them unconscious.
• Batman restrained the two Kryptonians with Kryptonite-radiation handcuffs, while the Justice League discussed freeing the world from Superman's regime.
• Arthur Curry stayed behind to help Atlantis, and Queen Mera entrusted him with command before leaving for Xebel with the other Mera.
• Dane brought the others to the scorched surface, where Doomsday Batman contacted the Rebel Army by radio.
• Poison Ivy arrived on a motorcycle, and Doomsday Batman explained that Gotham's villains and Arkham inmates had joined the rebellion.

Doomsday Batman urged the Rebel Army to begin taking Earth back, and Poison Ivy agreed to send her forces under Wonder Woman’s command. On Apokolips, Desaad tasked Granny Goodness with finding Big Barda after his attempt to summon the stolen Mother Box failed.

• Poison Ivy joined the Rebel Army and took control of its plants and food supply.
• Doomsday Batman revealed the Justice League and the captured Kryptonians, then urged Poison Ivy to help launch a counterattack.
• Poison Ivy agreed to deploy her forces under Wonder Woman rather than Batman or Superman.
• Dane sensed a change in the Mother Box as Desaad failed to summon it on Apokolips.
• Desaad blamed Granny Goodness for Big Barda’s disappearance and ordered her to find Barda before Darkseid returned.

Darkseid entered Hell to find Lucifer and clashed with The First of the Fallen, whose magic and command of Hell failed to overcome Darkseid’s Omega Effect. The First of the Fallen tried to end the confrontation, but Darkseid refused to stop fighting.

• Granny Goodness arranged for Desaad to send five Female Furies to Earth, where they used their authority over the Parademons to attack the Rebel Army.
• Diana withdrew the Rebel Army when a vast Parademon swarm appeared, and Dane concluded that New Gods must be directing it.
• Darkseid arrived in Hell and demanded that The First of the Fallen tell him where Lucifer was.
• The First of the Fallen attacked Darkseid with Hell’s power and inflicted its accumulated sins upon his soul.
• Darkseid used the Omega Effect to destroy the power of sin affecting him, convincing The First of the Fallen that magic could not defeat him.
• The First of the Fallen tried to de-escalate and direct Darkseid to Lucifer, but Darkseid refused to stop fighting.

Darkseid defeated The First of the Fallen with the Omega Effect and Anti-Life Equation, but Lucifer intervened and revealed what he knew about Dane Davis. After Lucifer explained how multiversal power worked and warned that Dane could spread his authority across the universe, Darkseid looked forward to facing him.

• Darkseid overcame The First of the Fallen's time magic, destroyed his body, and used the Anti-Life Equation to erase his consciousness.
• Lucifer descended with the Life Equation, stopped the Anti-Life attack, and kept The First of the Fallen alive while Belial and Beelzebub left.
• Darkseid tested Lucifer with a beam carrying abyssal power, prompting Lucifer to learn from his parallel selves that the power came from Dane.
• Lucifer told Darkseid that Dane was Hell's first Demon God and might come with the Justice League, and Darkseid resolved to defeat him.
• Lucifer explained that multiversal beings could unify their counterparts' consciousnesses, while other routes to greater power relied mainly on accumulating energy.

Lucifer explained that Dane Davis had no counterparts in any parallel universe, making him a unique being who could potentially become multiversal. He recruited Darkseid to involve himself in Dane’s fate, and revealed that Dane could ascend by spreading his existence across infinite universes as the first multiversal beings had done.

• Darkseid prepared to attack Lucifer, but Lucifer warned that fighting him would leave Darkseid weakened against Dane Davis, so Darkseid held back.
• Lucifer said Dane’s uniqueness made him a variable outside the predetermined course of fate, and revealed that Death had placed a wager on him.
• Lucifer explained that he wanted to involve himself in Dane’s fate so the unknown might also affect his own destiny and help him escape the supreme God’s control.
• Darkseid asked how Dane could reach the multiversal level, and Lucifer said Dane only needed to spread his unique existence across infinite parallel universes.
• Darkseid found Lucifer’s proposed path astonishing because the original multiversal beings had spread across parallel worlds when those worlds first split.

Darkseid and Lucifer realized Dane Davis might use Dream’s power to rewrite his origin and escape Destiny. On Earth, the Female Furies and Parademons attacked the Rebel Army while Queen Super and Poison Ivy defended Penguin’s base, and Queen Super sought backup as the attackers overwhelmed them.

• Lucifer told Darkseid that Dane Davis possessed Dream’s power, leading Darkseid to conclude that Dane could reshape his origin and might already have escaped Destiny.
• Desaad directed the Parademon army to attack what he believed was the Rebel Army’s command center, destroying Penguin’s stronghold before the Justice League rescued him.
• Queen Super bound and tortured Penguin after he insulted her, while Poison Ivy wondered who had ordered the Parademon attack.
• The Female Furies arrived through a Boom Tube and attacked Queen Super, who knocked down Lashina, Heavy-Foot, Mad Harriet, and Gilotina while Poison Ivy fought Bernard.
• Bernard summoned a swarm of Parademons, forcing Queen Super to battle the growing horde as the Female Furies launched ambushes.
• Queen Super asked Poison Ivy whether she could contact the others for backup.

Queen Super and Poison Ivy battled the Female Furies until Dane used a Boom Tube to sweep away the Apokolips forces and rescue them. Dane explained that Black Superman could not be freed from the Anti-Life Equation because he chose to remain unconscious, leaving Poison Ivy to ask whether they should simply kill him.

• Poison Ivy tripped Bernard with a vine, allowing Queen Super to knock Bernard down, while Gilotina fell under Poison Ivy's pheromone control and attacked Lashina.
• Queen Super killed Bernard and fought Mad Harriet and Heavy-Foot as Desaad overrode the Parademons' orders and freed Gilotina from Poison Ivy's control.
• A Boom Tube sucked the Parademons and Female Furies away; Queen Super and Poison Ivy held on, and Queen Super blasted Mad Harriet and Gilotina into the portal.
• Dane arrived through a smaller Boom Tube, and Queen Super realized her bracelet had sent him a distress signal.
• Dane told Queen Super and Poison Ivy that Black Superman's Anti-Life control could not be removed because he did not want to regain consciousness.
• Poison Ivy asked whether they should kill Black Superman rather than help him recover his sanity.

Dane returned to the Hidden Sea of the Earth's Core, where Karathen began eating the Female Furies along with the Parademons. As Karathen hunted the survivors, Gilotina, Lashina, and Mad Harriet tried to contact the Mother Box for rescue.

• Dane explained that Batman had asked him to find a way to free Black Superman from the Anti-Life Equation, while he hoped to use the experience against Darkseid.
• Dane left the Female Furies and Parademons in the Hidden Sea of the Earth's Core, intending to use them to expose a weakness in Apokolips's blockade.
• Karathen swallowed Heavy-Foot and searched for the remaining Female Furies as they hid in the forest.
• Mad Harriet's arrival drew Karathen toward Gilotina and Lashina, and the three Female Furies fled together.
• Gilotina proposed using their blood to call upon the Mother Box, and the Female Furies prepared to make the attempt.

Dane traced the Female Furies’ rescue signal to Apokolips, then removed the Anti-Life Equation’s control from Black Superman by confronting him with Lois. Lois urged Clark to seek redemption, and Dane offered him a chance to fight Darkseid while warning that he would remain imprisoned afterward.

• Gilotina used the Female Furies’ blood to summon a Mother Box, and Desaad teleported the Furies from Karathen’s lair to Apokolips.
• Dane traced the signal through the teleportation channel and discovered Apokolips’s location, while Desaad realized his Mother Box had communicated with an unknown device.
• Dane drew Black Superman’s soul from his body and brought Ghost Lois into the world, causing Clark’s regret to weaken the Anti-Life Equation’s control.
• Dane stripped the remaining Anti-Life Equation from Clark, and Lois urged him to atone through redemption rather than death.
• Dane offered Clark a chance to help defeat Darkseid but said he would remain a prisoner in Red Sun Prison afterward, leaving Lois distressed.

Dane prepared to travel to Apokolips with Big Barda as his guide while the Justice League used the Watchtower to eliminate Parademons on Earth. On Apokolips, Darkseid prepared to escalate the war and ordered Granny Goodness to ensure Scott Free learned about Big Barda.

• Superman accepted responsibility for his crimes, and Batman punched him before Dane planned to take him to Apokolips after he recovered.
• Dane and Cyborg prepared the Watchtower to identify and teleport away Parademons across Earth.
• Big Barda agreed to guide Dane to Darkseid's palace, though Dane insisted he would face Darkseid alone.
• Darkseid reprimanded Granny Goodness for the Female Furies' defeat, ordered Desaad to ready the Parademons and New Gods, and told him Scott Free should learn about Big Barda.
• Granny Goodness volunteered to handle the news, and Darkseid approved her taking charge.

Darkseid manipulated Scott Free into seeking greater power to rescue Big Barda, sending him to Desaad’s laboratory. On Earth, Dane and the Justice League agreed to prepare for an attack on Apokolips, and Dane summoned the dark Superman as the team’s plans began.

• Darkseid gave Desaad a new task and revealed he planned to use death-related authority to create a new evil god, with Dane Davis in mind as a possible host.
• Granny Goodness deceived Scott Free into believing Big Barda had been captured by Earth’s heroes, then persuaded him to ask Darkseid for power to rescue her.
• Darkseid agreed to grant Scott Free new power if he proved worthy and directed him to Desaad’s laboratory.
• After the Watchtower’s Mother Box displaced most Parademons to The Hidden Sea of the Earth's Core, Dane met with the Justice League to discuss attacking Apokolips.
• Dane learned from the Mother Box that Darkseid had returned to Apokolips and decided to move quickly while the League stayed on standby.
• Dane summoned Superman, and the dark version of Superman arrived at the Watchtower.

Dane infiltrated Apokolips disguised as Steppenwolf and found Desaad’s laboratory, where he encountered the Black Racer, a speedster empowered by the authority of death. After learning the source of the Black Racer’s speed, Dane decided to claim that power but struggled to catch him.

• Dane took Big Barda and Black Robe Superman to Apokolips while Batman prepared a Cosmic Treadmill for the two Flashes to locate Apokolips.
• Dane disguised himself as Steppenwolf, killed the guards who recognized him, and split from Big Barda and Black Robe Superman.
• Dane entered Desaad’s laboratory, defeated the guards, and attacked Desaad, who released the Black Racer.
• The Black Racer identified himself as death’s pursuer, and Desaad called him Scott Free.
• Dane realized the Black Racer’s speed came from a variant of the Power of Death and tried to claim it, but his attempts to catch the Black Racer fell short.

Dane extracted the authority of death from the Black Racer and transferred it to Desaad, then absorbed it after killing him. When Darkseid arrived, Dane’s disguise was exposed, and he used his new death-speed to evade the Omega Ray.

• The Black Racer’s Power of Death failed to harm Dane and instead began draining Desaad’s life, so Dane restrained the Black Racer and searched Desaad’s memories for how the authority had been granted.
• Dane used Desaad’s conversion device to transfer the Power of Death and its authority from Scott Free to Desaad, who grew vastly stronger as he neared death.
• Desaad detonated his laboratory to draw Darkseid’s attention, but Dane survived the blast, killed Desaad, and absorbed the Power of Death from his body.
• Darkseid arrived and demanded that the intruder reveal his true form, while Dane remained silent and prepared to fight.
• Darkseid attacked Dane with the Omega Ray, but Dane adapted to his new death-speed and evaded the pursuing beams by shifting through space.

Dane fought Darkseid on Apokolips, using his spatial and speed powers to evade the Omega Effect and trade devastating blows with the ruler. After refusing Darkseid’s offer to become his second-in-command, Dane resumed the battle and launched a degenerate Nth Metal javelin that pierced the Omega Rays and struck Darkseid.

• Dane evaded Darkseid’s conceptual Omega Effect by hiding his true form between layered spaces, then punched Darkseid and clashed with him in a battle that devastated the surrounding area.
• Darkseid recognized Dane Davis from what Lucifer had told him and offered him the highest position on Apokolips beneath himself.
• Dane refused Darkseid’s offer, and Darkseid attacked; he predicted Dane’s movements, grabbed him, and struck him.
• Dane blocked Darkseid’s punch, threw him into the ground, and used Zeus’s lightning to briefly hold off the Omega Rays.
• Dane entered the Speed Force, formed an Nth Metal javelin, and hurled it in a degenerate state through Darkseid’s Omega Rays and into Darkseid.